<P>3 0ct - 10 Nov<BR>London's 23rd annual festival of contemporary dance<P>email: mail@danceumbrella.co.uk<BR> <A HREF="http://www.danceumbrella.co.uk" TARGET=_blank>http://www.danceumbrella.co.uk</A> <P><BR>Autumn's winds and rain can make for gloomy faces in London, but for more than 20 years we have had Dance Umbrella to cheer us up. This celebration of contemporary dance draws together delights from the UK, US, Continental Europe and beyond. From companies large and small there is a feast of dance with the emphasis on innovation.<P>Inevitably much of the focus will be on the big names such as the Mark Morris Dance Group and Ballet Frankfurt. However, some of the smaller performances at The Robin Howard Dance Theatre at The Place also promise much, such as Vincent Sekwati Mantsoe and David Gordon's Pick Up Performance Company. There's also a place for fun with 'Rome and Jewels' from Renee Harris, a hip-hop version of 'Romeo & Juliet' and Déjà Donné in 'Aria Spinta'.<P>CriticalDance has a strong track record of support for contemporary dance and therefore we are delighted to be collaborating with Dance Umbrella to provide this feedback forum for the 2001 festival, which promises to be one of the best ever. <P>Over the coming weeks, we'll unveil more of our extensive coverage of this year's event, but for starters, in this forum you'll find a topic on each of the companies in this year's festival pulling together a wide range of information. <P>Who better to introduce this year's Dance Umbrella than Val Bourne who has been Artistic Director from the start and is one of the treasures of the UK dance scene:<P><BR><B>Introduction to Dance Umbrella 2001 by Val Bourne</B><P>Dance Umbrella is delighted to launch its first Promenade Performances at Sadler's Wells as part of this year's festival. This means that you can see both the Mark Morris Dance Group, whose programme includes a world premiere, and The Michael Clark Company's stunning new show, for as little as £5 each. That should leave you with plenty of cash in hand for other tempting events in Dance Umbrella 2001 which actually opens at the Barbican Theatre the week before, on 3 October, with Israel's Batsheva Dance Company, back in town for the first time in eight years to present Ohad Naharin's scintillating Sabotage Baby. <P>We are also thrilled to be back again at The Place, in the renamed and refurbished Robin Howard Dance Theatre, where we present a posse of companies led by British choreographers all showing new work, including Richard Alston, Charles Linehan, Russell Maliphant and Fin Walker, as well as Ricochet Dance Company, with commissioned pieces from Gary Carter and Stephen Petronio. Overseas artists appearing in the theatre include José Navas and his Compagnie Flak from Montreal, Vincent Sekwati Mantsoe from Johannesburg, Lenka Flory and Simone Sandroni with their company Déjà Donné from Prague and David Gordon's Pick Up Performance Company from New York, making its first appearance in London since 1985. <P>Also from New York, Richard Move, whose remarkable homage to Martha Graham packed out the Brick Lane Music Hall two years ago, makes a welcome return to London. This time Martha will be in the West End, at the Criterion Theatre on Piccadilly Circus. Meanwhile, the South Bank Centre is host to Rennie Harris’s Rome and Jewels, a ground-breaking rendition of Shakespeare's classic tale of star-crossed lovers, featuring hip hop and break dancers, an MC/rapper and three DJs. Next in to the Queen Elizabeth Hall are two visually stunning multi-media productions: Luna, brought to us by O Vertigo from Montreal and Moving Target by Charleroi Danses from Belgium. <P>Down at Greenwich choreographer Carol Brown and visual artist Esther Rolinson install their Machine for Living in the Borough Hall, whilst an international artists' collective present Trajets as part of this year's Virtual Incarnations at the ICA. The Video Place presents its Dance on Screen programme back at its home base and this year's festival debate is on the vexed question of just why dancers are still Paying for the Privilege of performing for their public. <P>Val Bourne<BR>Artistic Director<BR> <BR><p>[This message has been edited by Stuart Sweeney (edited October 02, 2001).]

Dance Umbrella have issued two press releases, which we have published in full:<P>Here are the <A HREF="http://www.criticaldance.com/ubb/Forum13/HTML/000336.html" TARGET=_blank><B>Full Listings </B></A><P>And here is the <A HREF="http://www.criticaldance.com/ubb/Forum13/HTML/000335.html" TARGET=_blank><B>General Press Release</B></A> <P><p>[This message has been edited by Stuart Sweeney (edited October 02, 2001).]

Article in The Times by Donald Hutera encompassing several of the Dance Umbrella Productions, beginning with Renee Harris' Pure Movement<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>RENNIE HARRIS’S Rome & Jewels, a canny fusion of Shakespeare and hip hop, is one of the most exciting dance productions to hit Britain’s shores this year. Made for his Philadelphia-based troupe Puremovement, it is also one of the few foreign imports in the current Dance Umbrella season that can be seen outside London. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A HREF="http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,62-2001373731,00.html" TARGET=_blank> <B> MORE </B> </A>

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